1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to canopies and more specifically to portable, tree-supported, hunter's shelters.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many devices are known whose purpose is to protect a user from the elements, and many are of the umbrella type. Most umbrellas with a suspended center shaft require the user to use one hand for holding the umbrella. Hunters and other sportsman need both hands free to engage in their sport and have heretofor faced the elements without cover. Protection is particularly important to the sportsman who is subject to hypothermia during winter hunting season. There have been permanent duck blinds and the like for hunters, but no small portable protective device has been available for the mobile hunter.
Certain devices are known which are more or less portable--that is, designed to be nonpermanent. U.S. Pat. No. 3,545,461 to Carlson is an example of this type. Carlson's device operates more as a blind for the operator and is sizable and not rapidly dismountable. It also is more tent-like and is suspended by a cantilever from a tree. Another cantilevered shelter is U.S. Pat. No. 4,284,095 to Norton which is hung away from the tree trunk and allows rain to reach the user. Additionally Norton, which is a top hung umbrella, is subject to the common umbrella damage of being turned inside out in wind gusts and ruined. More portable shelters have been designed such as U.S. Pat. No. 2,970,600 to Schultz which provides a right angled shelter supported by legs pushed into the ground and which folds into a briefcase, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,112,957 to Biven which is designed to be used with a back pack.
There is, therefore, a great need for a truly portable sportsman's roof which is easily carried but which, most importantly, provides 360 degree protection around a tree and does so at tree trunk edge. That is, there is a need for a device which completely protects the user and his equipment by fitting snugly around a tree support. No device is known which provides this protection. There is also a need for a device which is simultaneously rough in construction, easy to operate, non-damaging to the environment by not requiring nails, etc., is inexpensive to produce, functions as a roof for the user and provides a knob for suspending firearms for rest.